So it goes for Los Angeles Clippers’ rookie, Blake Griffin, bestowed to the sorriest franchise in all of sports this summer due to their luck of the draw in gaining the #1 overall pick in this year’s NBA Lottery.

Yes, Blake Griffin has a broken kneecap. 

Blake Griffin - say it ain't so

Who could have seen this coming?  Well, pretty much everybody.  And that includes the pre-eminent voice of the NBA these days, one Mr. Bill Simmons, who has referenced a Clipper Curse on various occasions and made a  point to preface his comments on Griffin with a disclaimer in his annual NBA preview.

Unfortunate news for someone who has the chance to right all that has been wrong with this franchise for so many years.  Of course, any franchise run by Donald Sterling and managed by Mike Dunleavy truly manages to earn its luck.  But why take it out on this poor kid?

Anyway, for those of you curious to see the injury, here’s the link to the big-time dunk in the meaningless exhibition game that is likely to cause Griffin to miss at least a quarter of his rookie season.  Yikes!

But consider this as a reminder that fall and winter are knocking at the door.  Loudly.  In five weeks and one day, the NBA kicks off its preseason schedule when the Denver Nuggets visit the Utah Jazz on October 1st.

Hard to believe that camps are nearly ready to open – at least for everyone but the unlucky free agents like Allen Iverson (will he wind up in Memphis?) or Ramon Sessions (still waiting on the Knicks or Clippers) and a few others asking their agents to find them a job before rosters are set for the 2009-10 season.

So, while the news out of the NBA has slowed considerably recently, it is still worth checking out the musings of Ken Berger, Senior Writer for CBSSports.com.  In today’s column, for example, he provides his list of breakout players for the upcoming season.

Click that link for all of the details, but remember that Berger (along with a few other notable columnists) fed you the name of Anthony Randolph now and not after the rest of the world takes notice.

Sure, it’s easy to get lost when you are toiling away for a franchise as miserable as the Golden State Warriors have been for a generation, but Randolph is an All-Star in the making.

The second-year stud out of LSU, all of 20 years old, will see considerably more playing time than the 18 minutes a game that Coach Don Nelson allowed him last season.  Expect big, big things – of course, the Warriors will still struggle but the NBA will be better off for the development of Randolph and sportwriters can start projecting for the next “big free agency class” of 2013 or whenever Randolph hits the open market.

Expect a lot of this from Anthony Randolph during the 2009-10 NBA season

The other four breakout candidates are interesting choices as well, but you’ll have to read Berger’s column for more details. 

Yes, folks, it’s almost that time of year.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  If the NBA is not your thing come October, the sports world offers an amazing smorgasbord of options and a never-ending buffet of action.  And it’s all just 36 days away.  Enjoy those late-summer barbecues while you still can.

Why, then, have NBA owners been so quick to throw hundreds of millions of dollars down the drain on players who are not superstars and have not won championships?  The answer, without question, is free agency and we are at the dawn of yet another chapter in the NBA’s cash grab, beginning tomorrow at 12:01am.

Last year’s free agent class was pretty bland, though there were a few notably rich (and ultimately bad) contracts signed (including Corey Maggette, Baron Davis, and Elton Brand in a wild scenario that could only have involved the hapless Los Angeles Clippers). 

This year shapes up to be very comparable as the looming Class of 2010 theoretically gives every team pause, so as not to use up cap room in anticipation of taking a run at next summer’s class, potentially including LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki, Carlos Boozer, and Kobe Bryant.

I do have a couple thoughts that are maybe not quite as obvious as to why the flow of ridiculous money is slowing down, however, that have nothing to do with the Class of 2010.

First of all, take a look at the list of contracts compiled by Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com that account for the current Top 15 Dead Money Players and Cap-Killing Contracts.  The amount of money being paid to this group of losers who would be considered non-productive, at best, if not downright destructive, is just obscene. 

Just the idea that these contracts are still being paid out should give any owner hesitation before green-lighting another overpriced free-agent signing.  And these are just the highlights. 

In addition to last summer’s deals, there are so many more contracts that speak to the insanity that the owners shouldn’t even need the economy as an excuse for ending the practice of dishing out huge multi-year, guaranteed contracts to average ballplayers.  Just point to the recent return on investment to make the easy decision to find some lesser-priced alternatives and stay away from repeating past mistakes.

But the issues run deeper than that.  Ken Berger of CBSSports.com points out that only three teams even have the financial flexibility to offer a max contract at this time.  On top of that, when you read Berger’s rundown of available free agents, it is evident that the talent out there does not warrant the money anyway.  With rare exception, a big money contract to a free agent in this year’s class would just be a step to locking up a spot on a future Cap-Killing Contract list.

For further evidence, check out Steve Aschburner’s list on SI.com of the Top 20 unrestricted free agents and Top 12 restricted free agents as proof that the talent level does not warrant the execution of big-money deals to all but the first couple names on the list.

Hedo Turkoglu, the consensus head of the NBA's Free Agent Class of 2009

Of course, because of those first few names (Hedo Turkoglu, Ben Gordon, Lamar Odom, and Trevor Ariza among them) there will be some initial excitement over the next week as stories start to circulate about the potential future homes of these much-hyped players.

And what teams offer the most appeal for top free agents?  Aschburner, again, has put together a fantastic list of all 30 franchises from first to worst.  Take a look at his top 10 (LA Lakers, Miami, Phoenix, Houston, Orlando, Dallas, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, San Antonio) and you can pretty much assume that the best of this year’s class, next year’s class, and virtually every class after that will work to make one of these locations a destination under the current system.

Despite the inherent limitations on the potential for excitment during this free agent signing period, I am still fascinated to see how teams react with all of these factors (including the slowly-recovering economy) weighing against the pull of civic pride and the pocketbooks of country-clubbing rich guys with their franchises as playthings.

Track all of the free agent activity this summer with NBA.com’s Free Agent Tracker.

And that Class of 2010?  It will ultimately fizzle out with about as much excitement as we had with Y2K.  It’s a great way for sportswriters to keep filing columns by imagining thousands of different scenarios, but it looks to me as if it’s shaping up to be just more of the same next summer, with the exception being the likelihood of LeBron and D-Wade putting together their Fab 5 lists before making the most important decisions of their basketball careers. 

But even with the potential of a move by either of those two, there are maybe three franchises that could even be realistically discussed as potential destinations.  And the rest of the class is a slightly better version of what we’ve seen the last couple summers – a class that will ultimately end up with the same realization that the (cap-killing contract) money train has disappeared for good. 

In a superstar league, the superstars should be paid.  Big time.  The rest should be happy to realize that they are simply recognized as one of the Fortunate 450.

Kevin McHale, right, will no longer be responsible for the career of Kevin Love, left, or the rest of his Minnesota Timberwolves teammates

McHale had previously been stripped of his duties as vice president of basketball operations after joining a long list of sports superstars who failed miserably in helming franchises after their playing days.  His official jettisoning as coach today was a much-needed breath of fresh air for an organization that needs to start anew without the burdens of the past.

But since McHale will be remembered most for his architecture of the Wolves’ bad drafts, trades, and free agent signings, it is fitting that he is prominently featured in SI.com’s feature of “Good Players, Bad Personnel Men”.

There can be no arguments with any member of this list, which also includes such recent disasters as Matt Millen & Isiah Thomas to go along with a few historical figures who set the standards for incompetence in the front office by former athletes.

Check it out and shake your head wondering why owners with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake would turn over the keys to the franchise to these guys in the first place.  While Jerry West and a few others may prove the exception to the rule every once in a while, the correlation between playing success and player personnel success is clearly not there.

Los Angeles Clippers G.M. & Head Coach Mike Dunleavy knows all too well what I’m saying.  Hey “Dumbleavy”, you’ve got next!

Self-inflicted wound.  How else to better describe Donald Sterling and the Los Angeles Clippers?  Maybe that should just be their nickname – skip the nautical theme and just go with the LA Self-Inflicted Wounds.

After all, this is a franchise that has pretty much trademarked mediocrity and earned every ounce of that reputation.  The press has made a sport out of bashing the Clippers for their 25 seasons in Los Angeles with exactly 4 trips to the playoffs in that time. 

In those 25 years, they have had only one playoff series victory (in 2005-06).  That team’s success was supposed to signal a new era for Clippers basketball.  Ha!  Never a chance of that.

April 17, 2000 cover of Sports Illustrated

This is a franchise that rang in this decade with a Sports Illustrated cover story as the worst franchise in pro sports history and ends it with Donald Sterling “topping” the list of SI.com’s worst NBA owners.  Check out this description of the Clippers’ owner:

There is no American sports franchise more associated with futility than the Clippers, who have posted only two winning seasons under Sterling’s ownership. Marquee players have come and gone — including Danny Manning, Dominique Wilkins, Lamar Odom, Elton Brand and Baron Davis — and none has been able to turn around the losing tradition. Though they’ve achieved some level of stability in the past few years — notoriously cheap Sterling has cracked his checkbook a tiny bit, and Mike Dunleavy is now the longest-tenured coach in franchise history — the team is mired in its old losing ways, eclipsing 60 losses for the eighth time under Sterling.

So, conveniently, what better team to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the NBA Draft lottery as winners in this past Tuesday’s festivities than the franchise that has made its appearance at the lottery a virtually annual event.

Unfortunately for the otherworldly (and certain-to-be #1 overall pick) Blake Griffin, the Clippers’ third lottery victory in those 25 years means that he will join Danny Manning (1988) and Michael Olowokandi (1998) as the next college star to lead the draft only to have his professional career ruined in Los Angeles playing for Donald Sterling and crew.

What is it with “The Donald” anyway?  What makes him soooo bad?  ESPN The Magazine sums it up brilliantly in this new feature on Sterling, covering all angles from his days as the immigrant kid on LA’s East Side (born Donald Tokowitz), through his money-making days as a lawyer and real estate investor, all the way to his almost accidental purchase of the then-San Diego Clippers. 

All with numerous example of his status as the despicable, shameful 76-year old human being that he flaunts at every opportunity.

Donald Sterling, Los Angeles Clippers' owner and despicable human being

Jaw-dropping stuff here and there can be no doubt in anyone’s mind after reading this why things are the way they are in Clipperland. 

In fact, I just looked up the word “lunatic” and came back with this definition: a person whose actions and manner are marked by extreme eccentricity or recklessness.  Lunatic is the least of the things Sterling can claim to be.  And yet, he will own this basketball team to the grave and you and I can only watch in disgust.

Griffin calls Los Angeles a “great opportunity” and I hope it is for him.  Unfortunately, history shows that his best chance to thrive will come when he can escape the Clip Ship.  For his sake, it better be as soon as possible.

In what appears to be a completely anticlimatic event, the Cleveland Cavaliers have locked up one spot in the Eastern Conference Finals.  The defending champion Boston Celtics need to win one of the next two to clinch the other spot and the team that they faced in last year’s NBA Finals, the LA Lakers, also have a magic number of one to gain entry into the Western Conference Finals. 

The fact that most prognosticators had these exact three teams slotted into these positions when the first ball was tipped back in November brings into serious question the relative importance of the last 6 months of basketball. 

So what’s the twist?  Well, how about the Denver Nuggets – making their first Conference Finals in 24 years after an offseason in which they seemingly lowered expectations by dumping the salary of premiere defender Marcus Camby. 

Remember that “trade”?  The LA Clippers couldn’t have been more excited to pick up Camby in exchange for nothing more than the option for Denver to swap second-round picks in the 2010 NBA Draft.

But then came Chauncey.  With tonight’s 124-110 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, the Nuggets have clinched their second straight series in five games to follow their franchise record-tying 54 victories during the regular season. 

And the real answer to why this has come together is the early-season trade for the hometown hero, Chauncey Billups, who arrived courtesy of the Detroit Pistons in exchange for “The Answer” himself.

The experts weren’t quite sure what to make of this trade.  But it didn’t take long for his teammates (and Nuggets fans) to realize what his addition meant to the team’s fortunes.

Chauncey Billups

Certain players always seem to find themselves in the middle of the biggest moments – and Billups transcends most.  Did you know that other than the Laker quartet of Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kurt Rambis, Billups is the first player since 1970 to make it to seven straight conference finals?  Now that is amazing.

And you will definitely want to root for him after you read this great (and lengthy) ESPN.com feature, “The Disposable Superstar”. 

Most people had written this guy off within the first few years of his career (if not his rookie season, when the #3 overall pick was unceremoniously traded after just 51 games in a Celtics uniform).  But when you read about the way that Denver native Billups has carried himself before, during, and after that experience, you can easily see why winning follows him everywhere.

The Nuggets will definitely have their work cut out for them in taking on the Lakers.  It certainly seems like the right time for a Kobe-LeBron NBA Finals matchup and Denver will be decided underdogs when their likely series against  Los Angeles tips off in a few days. 

But do not count the Nuggets out.  Billups, the one who Coach George Karl calls “a gift from the basketball gods”, will make sure that they will not go quietly.

So after a pointless regular season that offered very little in the way of interesting storylines (and a lock MVP in LeBron James), leave it to Steve Aschburner of SI.com to come up with his list of alternative NBA awards. 

Great stuff here – my favorite has to be his First Man Award winner, Allen Iverson.

First Man Award winner

Congrats, AI – you’ve earned it!